Today we want to see a hero with a dark side, a hero haunted by the past, a hero seeking redemption, and so on. In fact, many of the heroes we get today are not quite heroes at all—they’re anti-heroes.They’re dark and complex. They’ll use any means necessary to get what they want. Even when they’re running from the law we’re cheering them on. 

There’s one thing you need to understand before moving forward. Anti-heroes and villains are different. You’re supposed to root for the anti-hero—to want them to succeed, to get away with their crimes, etc.

Anti-heroes are still heroes, they’re just not the sort of people you’d want your kids looking up to. They’re not the sort of people you’d want to get involved with. The question is: why? If, in real life, we wouldn’t want to be around these people why do we even like the anti-hero?